Seogwipo (TDI): The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group has cautioned that due to the announcement of the United States tariffs, exports from the Asia-Pacific region will decline sharply this year.
The announcement was made during an annual session of trade representatives in South Korea, ahead of this year’s leaders’ summit.
APEC accounts for nearly half of global trade and 60% of global GDP. The exports to the Asia-Pacific region would rise only by 0.4% this year, compared to the growth of 5.7% last year, the report released during the session, read.
APEC also forecasted a decline in regional economic growth to 2.6% from 3.3% last year.
The top Chinese envoy, Li Chenggang, and the US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, met on the sidelines of the meeting, following the high-level trade talks between the two countries that sought to de-escalate the bitter tariff war, in Geneva.
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The group, however, did not elaborate further on the details of the meeting.
In a statement released after the meeting, the group stated, “Trade growth is set to decline sharply across APEC due to lower external demand, particularly in manufacturing and consumer goods while rising uncertainty over goods-related measures weighs on services trade.”
The representatives of the APEC member economies were scheduled to discuss several trade challenges including the reform of the World Trade Organization, over the last two days.
It is important to note that the current US administration views the WTO as a trade institution that has enabled China to gain an unfair export advantage, which led to a halt of US funding to the institution.
South Korea’s Trade Minister, Cheong, during the opening session, highlighted how global trade and the global economy have faced additional strain resulting from the tariff uncertainties, and urged the bloc to foster dialogue to tackle political and economic challenges.
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APEC policy director, Carlos Kuriyama, associated the decline of regional exports directly with the reciprocal tariffs announced by the Trump administration and warned that the ripple effect of the action might be much greater.
He said, “We notice U.S. tariffs are affecting not just goods trade, it’s also affecting services trade and financial markets. That’s why governments are having trade talks, but they are still not back to before early April.”
The US trade representative, Jamieson Greer said, “We’re moving as quickly as we possibly can with folks who want to be ambitious.” He is also scheduled to meet with his New Zealand and South Korean counterparts, as well as having a meeting with representatives from other Asian countries.
Javaria Khalid is a writer and researcher, who specializes in Pakistan's Foreign Policy Analysis, transatlantic geopolitics, and Pakistan’s relations with the European countries and the EU. She can be reached at javariakhalid011@outlook.com
